City News

The Winston-Salem Police Department Bomb Squad is hosting Spring "Eggplosion" beeping Easter egg hunts for the visually impaired in Winston-Salem on April 2 and at the Gov. Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh on April 14.

The beeping Easter eggs allow youngsters who are visually impaired to participate in a traditional Easter egg hunt, said Cpl. Angie Swaim, a member of the bomb squad.

The beeping egg hunt in Winston-Salem will be held Saturday, April 2, from 10 a.m. to noon at Reynolda Village, 2201 Reynolda Road. Participating children will have the egg hunt, interact, and name the bomb robots, visit with McGruff the Crime Dog and be entertained by JOTS the Clown.

The egg hunt in Raleigh will be held Thursday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Gov. Morehead School, 301 Ashe Ave., Raleigh. Participants will also interact with the bomb robots and enjoy other activities the school is planning.

The members of the bomb squad initiated the beeping egg hunts here after attending a conference for bomb technicians in September. During the conference, attendees made beeping eggs to send to other communities.

Afterwards, the members of the bomb squad learned that there is no such program in North Carolina and decided to start a beeping egg hunt in Winston-Salem. Officials at the Gov. Morehead School asked the department to host a second egg hunt in Raleigh when Swaim contacted the school to determine how best to organize and promote the hunt here.

In all, bomb squad members expect to make about 120 beeping eggs for the two hunts. Of these, 36 eggs are being sent to the school's 36 itinerant pre-school teachers who cover the state's 100 counties, for use as a teaching aid.

"We feel that this is a worthwhile program and has numerous benefits, not only by giving teachers a tool they can use, but for the students who can learn while having fun," Swaim said.

Kelly Davis, the preschool director for the Gov. Morehead School, said, "We are thrilled to be partnering with the Winston-Salem Police Department and we are grateful for their generous donation. Our staff and students are very excited about this year's Easter egg hunt. It is wonderful to see a community working together to offer inclusive activities for all children to share in and enjoy."

The eggs cost about $8 each to produce. The International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators provided the materials for about 70 eggs, Swaim said. The members of the bomb squad are purchasing the rest of the materials.Swaim credited David Hyche, an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent in Alabama who spoke at the IABTI conference, with popularizing the beeping egg hunts. Hyche, who has a visually impaired daughter, told the Associated Baptist Press in 2006 that he was aware of beeping egg hunts elsewhere, but they were rare because the eggs are expensive.